EU, Turkey strike heralded migrant deal but costs are high

Thousands of Turkish refugees will be expelled from the Greek islands to dire conditions after Balkan countries shut their borders. Many are sleeping in a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the Greek village of Idomeni. ﻿

Photo: DANIEL MIHAILESCU, Staff

BRUSSELS - European Union and Turkish leaders celebrated a "historic day" after sealing a widely criticized pact to send thousands of asylum seekers back to Turkey - a deal that will cost millions and require the rapid dispatch of thousands of experts to Greece to undertake the complicated task of making the plan a reality.

Amid broad smiles and congratulatory slaps on the back, the leaders announced that as of Sunday, all migrants arriving in the Greek islands who do not qualify for asylum or whose applications are deemed "inadmissible" would be returned to Turkey.

In exchange, Ankara was promised fast-track procedures to get billions in aid to deal with Syrian refugees, unprecedented visa concessions for Turks to come to Europe and a re-energizing of its EU membership bid.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country is home to almost 3 million Syria refugees, proclaimed the agreement a momentous occasion.

"This is a historic day," a beaming Davutoglu told reporters.

"We today realized that Turkey and the EU have the same destiny, the same challenges, and the same future."

The arrival of more than 1 million migrants over the past year has plunged Europe into one of its biggest existential crises, not due to the numbers as such but rather the inability of the 28 member states to agree on the best way to tackle the challenge and maintain unity.

Friday's agreement was met with strenuous objections by humanitarian organizations.